Drying cabinet



March 15, 1966 D. E. MILES 3,239,949

DRYING CABINET Filed July 25, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR DALE L.N1LES 4 ATTC: R N E March 15, 1966 D. E. MILES DRYING CABINET S Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 25, 1962 lNVENTOR DALE E. M\LE BY WORNEY E D. E. MILES DRYING CABINET March 15, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 25, 1962 United States Patent M 3,239,949 DRYING CABINET Dale E. Miles, 5204 Regent Drive, Nashville 4, Tenn. Filed July 25, 1962, Ser. No. 212,218 Claims. (Cl. 34233) This invention relates to a drying apparatus, and more particularly to a drying cabinet having novel means for circulating air.

The problem of developing optimum drying conditions within a drying cabinet has long been recognized and numerous efforts have been made to solve the problem, including the utilization of various and sundry heating devices and circulating methods, the combination of which has previously resulted in awkward and expensive drying devices not easily lent to efiicient and expanditious operation within the household.

An object of this invention is to provide a drying device, simple and efficient in operation, yet of a construction that Will facilitate household drying of light garments.

More specifically an object of the invention is to provide a drying device, which by its unique structure and location of ducts within the compartment, and its method of circulating heated air internally, will create optimum drying conditions.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction, with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the drying apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the drying chamber, illustrating the positioning of the fundamental elements of the device;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a schematic top plan view of the drying chamber demonstrating the flow of air; and

FIG. 5 is an. opened view of the drying chamber showing the relative positions of the air inlets and outlet.

9 The drying apparatus of the present invention comprises the positioning of a plurality of heated air inlet ducts on opposite sides of a drying chamber, the location of a discharge duct in the lower, rear portion of the chamber and the resultant air circulation between the inlet and outlet ducts.

Turning now to the specific embodiment of the invention selected for illustration in the drawings, FIG. 1 discloses a drying apparatus 10 comprising a cabinet or housing 11 having a bottom Wall 12, top wall 13, side walls 14 and 15, rear wall 16 and front wall 17. The bottom wall 12 may be provided with a discharge opening 18 adjacent the rear wall 16. The front wall 17 is provided with an opening 19 in its upper left hand corner to receive an electrical control box 20 (FIG. 3), and an elongated opening 21 in its bottom portion to provide an air inlet, which may be covered with a louvered or screen cover 22. The major portion of the front wall 17 has a rectangular opening 24, which may be covered with any type of closure means, such as the door 25 adapted to be opened and closed by any convenient means, such as hinges 26, to render the interior of the cabinet 11 accessible.

Adapted to be supported within the cabinet 11 by any convenient means, not shown, is a drying chamber 28 having a bottom wall 29, a top wall 30, side walls 31 and 32 and an end or rear wall 33. The interior of the drying chamber 28 is divided into a plurality of superimposed or vertically arranged compartments 35 by means of the vertically spaced horizontal open-work removable trays 36. Each tray 36 is slidably supported upon opposed parallel guides, such as the angle bars 37 and 38 mounted horizontally on the opposite side walls 31 and 32, respectively. Each tray 36 is adapted to be slidably re- Patented Mar. 15, 1966 moved through the open front end of the compartment 28 and the adjoining front wall opening 24.

A plurality of air inlets such as the screened openings 40 are preferably vertically arranged in the rear portion of the left side wall 31 in such a manner that each inlet 48 discharges air into a separate compartment 35, as best disclosed in FIG. 5. Moreover, each inlet opening 40 is located immediately adjacent the top surface of its respective tray 36. The inlets 40 are supplied with air through a manifold duct 41 and a heated chamber 42 from a centrifugal blower 43, which is furnished air through the louvered cover 22 and the plenum chamber between the bottom walls 29 and 12.

In order for the inlets 40 to discharge equal volume rates of air into each compartment 35, the manifold duct 41 has progressively smaller risers toward the top of the chamber 28 in accordance with standard air movement design practices.

Air inlets, such as the screened openings 45, which are identical in structure to the air inlets 40, are likewise arranged in a vertically spaced column in the front portion of the right side wall 32. Each of the air inlets 45 is located adjacent the top of each compartment 35, and immediately below the bottom surface of the next higher tray 36, as best disclosed in FIGS. 2 and 5. Here the air inlets 45 are likewise supplied with air through a manifold duct 46 receiving heated forced air through the heated chamber 47 from a blower 48. The blower 48 likewise receives its air through the louvered cover 22 and the plenum between the bottom walls 29 and 12.

In the bottom portion of the rear wall 33 is a screened discharge opening 50 which exhausts the heavier moist air from the chamber 28 through a duct 51 and the discharge opening 18 of the cabinet 11 to the atmosphere. It will be noted that not only is the discharge opening 50 located in the bottom of the drying chamber 28, but also the duct 51 is directed downward so that its discharge opening 18 is below the bottom wall 29 of the drying chamber 28. Since the total area of the air inlets 40 and 45 is greater than the total area of the discharge opening 50, a slight pressure will develop in the drying chamber 28 to contain and utilize the heated air to its greatest advantage. Only the heavier moist air will gravitate toward the bottom wall 29, where the air will be forced out through the discharge opening 50.

-In operation, the drying chamber 28 is assembled within the cabinet 11, as disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 3, and the trays 36 are slidably received within the chamber 28 upon the guide bars 37 and 38 to separate the compartments 35. The material to be dried, such as clothes, and particularly light garments such as stockings, handkerchiefs and underclothing, is placed on the trays 36, either before or after they are inserted in the drying chamber 28. The door 25 is closed and the control box 20 energized to start the blowers 43 and 48 and the electrical heating elements 52 and 53 (FIG. 5), within the heated chambers 42 and 47.

Thus, air is drawn through the louvered cover 22 of the inlet opening 21 into the plenum between the bottom walls 29 and 12 of the drying chamber 28 and cabinet 11, respectively. The air in the plenum is then sucked into the intakes of the :blowers 43 and 48, forced through the heated chambers 42 and 47, the manifold ducts 41 and 46 and into the chamber 28 through the inlet ducts 40 and 45, respectively.

With further reference to FIGS. 2 and 5, each inlet duct 40 will discharge air into a separate compartment 35. By virtue of the location of the inlet ducts 40, each duct 40 will discharge air toward the opposite side wall 32 substantially horizontally along the bottom and rear portion of each compartment 35. In a similar manner,

each inlet duct 45 discharges air into a separate compartment 35. Also, each inlet duct 45 forces air substantially horizontally across the front and upper portion of each compartment 35 toward the opposite wall 31, and in opposite directions from the direction of air blown from the inlet ducts 40. However, it will be apparent from the drawings that there will be one inlet duct 40 and one inlet duct 41 for each compartment 35. Because, of the disalignment, both vertically and horizontally from side to side and front to rear, of the inlet duct 40 and inlet duct 45, spiral air circulation is created in each compartment 35. Each inlet will induce air tangentially intothe periphery of the air already circulating within each compartment 35. This arrangement not only moves air in all portions of each compartment, but also forces air over the top and bottom surfaces of the tray 35, to dry both sides of the clothing supported Although hot air will tend to rise, it will have no escape in the upper portions of the chamber 28. Consequently, the portions of the air which absorb the most moisture will gravitate through the openwork trays 36 toward the bottom of the chamber 28 and will be forced out the discharge opening 50, while the more useful less humid air will remain in circulation to continue the drying process. Because the exhausted air is so humid, the opening 18 should be connected by duct means or otherwise to discharge outside of the house. If the exhausted air is discharged into the room in which the cabinet llis located, the room air will become too humid.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the sepcification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A drying cabinet comprising:

(a) a drying chamber enclosed by top, bottom and side walls, including first and second opposed side walls having first and second opposite end portions,

(b) a tray having openings therethrough and having top and bottom surfaces,

(c) means for supporting said tray within said chamber to extend between said side walls,

((1) a first air inlet in the first end portion of said first side wall positioned .to direct air over the top surface of said tray toward the first end portion of said second side wall,

(e) a second air inlet win the second end portion of said second side wall positoned to direct air across the bottom surface of said tray toward the second end portion of said first side wall, and

(f) means for forcing air only through said inlets into said chamber to establish cyclonic circulation of air in planes substantially parallel to said tray surfaces.

2. A drying cabinet comprising:

(a) a drying chamber enclosed by top, bottom and side walls, including first and second opposed side walls having first and second opposite end portions,

(b) a plurality of trays having openings therethrough and having top and bottom surfaces,

(c) means for supporting said trays in substantially horizontal positions and vertically spaced within said chamber to form compartments therebetween,

(d) a first air inlet for each compartment mounted in the first end portion of said first side wall adjacent the bottom of said compartment to direct air over the top surface of the adjacent tray toward the first end portion of said second side wall,

(e) a second air inlet for each compartment mounted in the second end portion of said sec-0nd side wall adjacent the top of said compartment to direct air across the bottom surface of the adjacent tray toward the second end portion of said first side wall, and

(f) means for forcing air only through said first and second inlets into said chamber to establish substantially horizontal planes of circulating air within each compartment above and below the surfaces of each tray.

3. The invention according to claim 2 in which an air outlet is formed in the bottom portion-of said chamber and beneath said compartments.

4. The invention according to claim 3 in which the total cross-section area of said first and second inlets exceeds the cross-sectional area of said outlet.

5. The invention according to claim 3 further comprising means for heating the air forced through said inlets.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,185,594 5/1916 Alberto 34-223 X 1,221,776 4/1917 Turner 34233 X 1,686,500 10/1928 Whorff 34233 X 2,040,227 5/ 1936 Wernersson 34-223 3,016,627 1/1962 Freund 34194 X FOREIGN PATENTS 149,361 4/1937 Austria. 202,082 8/1923 Great Britain. 617,965 2/ 1949 Great Britain.

95,437 4/ 1939 Sweden. 22,071 8/ 1900 Switzerland.

WILLIAM F. ODEA, Primary Examiner.

NORMAN YUDKOFF, Examiner. 

1. A DRYING CABINET COMPRISING: (A) A DRYING CHAMBER ENCLOSED BY TOP, BOTTOM AND SIDE WALLS, INCLUDING FIRST AND SECOND OPPOSED SIDE WALLS HAVING FIRST AND SECOND OPPOSITE END PORTIONS, (B) A TRAY HAVING OPENINGS THERETHROUGH AND HAVING TOP AND BOTTOM SURFACES, (C) MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID TRAY WITHIN SAID CHAMBER TO EXTEND BETWEEN SAID SIDE WALLS, (D) A FIRST AIR INLET IN THE FIRST END PORTION OF SAID FIRST SIDE WALL POSITIONED TO DIRECT AIR OVER THE TOP SURFACE OF SAID TRAY TOWARD THE FIRST END PORTION OF SAID SECOND SIDE WALL, (E) A SECOND AIR INLET IN THE SECOND END PORTION OF SAID SECOND SIDE WALL POSITIONED TO DIRECT AIR ACROSS THE BOTTOM SURFACE OF SAID TRAY TOWARD THE SECOND END PORTION OF SAID FIRST SIDE WALL, AND (F) MEANS FOR FORCING AIR ONLY THROUGH SAID INLETS INTO SAID CHAMBER TO ESTABLISH CYCLONIC CIRCULATION OF AIR IN PLANES SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID TRAY SURFACES. 